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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. march — the month
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. bat — the animal
  8. wound — an injury
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. march — the month
  11. branch — a division
  12. capital — a city
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. march — music
  15. face — to point toward
  16. face — to confront
  17. mate — a partner
  18. face — part of the head
  19. mate — to breed
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. mate — a friend
  22. capital — money
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. bat — for baseball

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com